Several fire trucks stuck in the mud

Several fire trucks responding to a grass fire in Cape Carancahua, about a mile south of the intersection of state highways 35 and 172, ended up stuck in the mud for almost two hours Friday.

Workers with Palacios Marine & Industrial, a shipyard business in Palacios, assisted the firefighters by pulling the trucks out of the mud with a tractor, said Craig Brooks, Cape Carancahua fire chief.

Brooks said it's usual for trucks to become stuck in the fields near the fire because the land is wet, and it's composed of loose, sand-like dirt. He said it's been a couple years since one of his fire trucks got stuck.

Two trucks from the Carancahua Community Volunteer Fire Department, a truck from the Vanderbilt Volunteer Fire Department and a truck from the Edna Fire Department were all stuck in the mud.

Port Lavaca Fire Department and volunteers from the Lolita, Ganado, Olivia-Port Alto and La Ward fire departments were called to assist.

The fire was reported just before noon. Brooks said it took about an hour and a half to get the trucks out of the mud.

Just before 3 p.m., he said the fire was under control.

Brooks said they do not know how the fire started.

It ignited in the general vicinity of County Road 302 and state Highway 172 on the edge of Calhoun County. The flames spread and burned about 50 acres, Brooks estimated.